The Carolina Hurricanes served as a strong measuring stick for the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. The Bruins had a light schedule through their first 12 games, and the Hurricanes, the league's best team, gave everyone a chance to see whether this team was different or whether last season's warts were still there.
Bad news: the Bruins, who couldn't handle an aggressive forecheck from the speedy Buffalo Sabres last postseason, reared their ugly head again. More specifically, Boston's defense struggled to handle Carolina's speed, and if you have to go through this team in the playoffs, the Bruins might be further from contention than we think.
It started with Jackson Blake's forecheck on Frederic Brunet, which led to the tying goal. Brunet held the puck too long, which was a bit surprising given how he's played since entering the lineup, and it let Blake strip the puck and take it to the net for the goal. I don't think we'll see that often from Brunet, but it was also a discouraging first look at how he handled a playoff-like forecheck.
Will Borgen also struggled with Carolina's speed, notably in the second period when he carried the puck back into his own zone under heavy pressure, leading to a penalty. It didn't result in a goal, but you don't want to see it too often.
In an all-too-familiar scene, Nikita Zadorov also had a couple of rough moments when the Hurricanes beat him with speed, including a tripping penalty late in the second period that can't happen in this type of close game.
Bruins' silver lining in loss
Two of the Bruins' losses this season came against the Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators, who play a similar style: suffocating defense and a hard forecheck. The defense has looked fine against the rest of their opponents this season, but you can't just struggle against these teams and expect to succeed.
On the bright side, Mason Lohrei showed glimpses of handling these types of teams better, which wasn't the case last season when he was a healthy scratch for the back half of the Sabres series. He took part of the blame for Sebastian Aho's go-ahead goal, but overall he didn't have a terrible game.
The Bruins lost just 2-1, but they leaned heavily on Jeremy Swayman to keep the game close. He's been so good that it is sustainable to keep relying on him, but the defense still needs to be better.
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